Legalise Weedle!
by BUKU
Summary: She will go on a journey. With a cute little weedle that's protective of her, how will she catch any other pokemon! With a boy that seemingly hates her on her tail and every way she turns, how will she not fall for him!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Only my characters.

* * *

Chapter One- _A Sticky Situation_

* * *

That morning was bright with the promise of future as Elizabeth Brooke stepped out onto her front porch and into the welcoming breeze, the warm sunlight of a summer day painting the oak door behind her ruby. Elizabeth, or 'Effy' to her friends, was fourteen barely four days ago and as a graduate of Pallet Preparatory School had been awarded a graduation letter that meant she could become a trainer, and that she had been top of her school.

Like every other kid in her class Effy had jumped at the chance and now stood with her blue backpack snug on her shoulders and durable, tan hiking boots strapped to her feet, all supplied by her dad, Neil Brooke. He had left a breakfast of cold pasta from the night before on the table for her. It had made her smile; Neil Brooke couldn't cook and Effy knew he wouldn't want to be around to see his little girl leave, so the small token meant a lot.

Because it was still early, and a chill hung in the air, she had pinched one of her dad's shirts from his old lumberjack days. She now wore it over her white vest, and black denim shorts. The thick, dark red material would be a comfort later on in her journey when she missed her single parent but, for now, it was just another thing to carry on top of her rock heavy pack.

While it _was_ a heavy backpack, it was just her dad trying to help again, with instant porridge pots, ramen noodles, and a few sandwiches he had balled up in plastic wrap on top of the second-hand equipment he'd rushed out to get for her last week; a beaten-up pokedex, xtranceiver, pokeballs and potions. You had to be fit and strong when you came from a town like Pallet, where the farmland stretched wide, and neighbors weren't just a few steps left, so her dad had insisted on a lot of the porridge and even a few protein bars. Did he want her to get fat?

Starting up the road towards Oak's Lab, Effy dawdled, watching the happy clouds roll by above, and the cheerful pidgey swooping through the skies, smiling about her Dad. It would be a long time 'til she was home again... especially if she and her new charmander partner were as great as she thought they'd be!

Effy had planned all of her life to travel with a charmander... she could see herself in her mind's eye streaking through the sky on the back of a charizard, or fighting side-by-side with a charmeleon, or even just cuddling with a charmander on a quiet night in the woods. What happened next, however, would change all likelihood of it ever happening. When Effy thought back on it later at weaker times in her life -like a lost battle, or a moment where they had been snubbed- she would curse herself for being caught up with her thoughts on that particular morning ... but she knew, truly, that fate and destiny couldn't be argued with.

The _SCRAW! _was loud and came unexpectedly from low down by her shins and made her jump. At first it just looked like a scruffy little spearow trotting along through the grass at the side of the path but then Effy saw the shaking and rustling of the grass; a little bug was managing to just about evade its nasty-looking talons. The bird cawed even louder and two more descended from the tree Effy had somehow come to a stop under. The three mean Pokemon started pecking and squabbling over the little creature who now cowered beneath the shelter of a pile of rocks.

Effy gasped and, without thinking, charged into the fray; swinging her heavy bag like a mad woman, almost throwing herself off balance, and wailing in what she hoped was a threatening manner. The scene, if it had been chanced upon, was absolutely ridiculous; Effy had her eyes tight shut, swinging with all her might, and yelling heroically, while spearow squawked in sheer shock and surprise before flapping awkwardly up and out of the lunatic's swinging appendage. No snack was worth a beating from a crazy, pale, lanky girl. Effy, upon the dying sounds of offensive shrills, let out a huff in relief. However, when she opened them, it was to be met by the stare of the tiny thing she had saved; a weedle.

"Err.." She hesitated. "Are you okay, little guy?"

"Weeeeee dull!" The little bug beamed, emerging completely from its pebble sanctuary to greet her warmly. "Weeweedlwee!"

"Good to know...?" Effy hazarded, backing away, and grinning nervously. She was very, very aware of what a weedle turned into and, ever since seeing the little stinger atop its head as it emerged, Effy had braced herself for the inevitable buzzing sound it's hive mates made.

It never came.

The weedle merely looked up at her, happy as could be, and she found herself wondering if he had become lost, or if there was a hive at one of the nearby plots of land. _Why am I worrying about a bug?_ She asked herself. _Bugs aren't exactly the top of the food chain. Almost everything eats them..._

The weedle had quite a big stinger which, if she remembered her text book right, meant it was a 'he', and 'he' was inching closer to her boots, his tiny feet patting the dusty path and rolling his body forward in a slinky pattern.

"Wee...wee...wee," He huffed, getting closer and closer.

Effy watched him, bemused and fascinated, as he finally reached the toe of her boot and heaved himself up. This went on for a good few minutes as he leisurely made his way up her body and she, for reasons she couldn't quite name, let him. The feel of his tickly body and feet on her legs made her squirm a little, but it wasn't an unpleasant feeling and Effy merely stared as he, finally, reached her shoulder.

It was then that she cried out in alarm.

He was oozing white goop from his mouth and effectively sticking himself to the shoulder of her dad's shirt!

"Oi!" She squeaked, flapping about, unsure what to do. "What are you doing?"

"Weeweedldleewee!" He told her happily, fusing his feet to the shirt.

* * *

It was in this state that she arrived at Oak's lab, half an hour later than her peers.

"Professor!" She growled, scowling at his doubled-over, laughing form. He had opened the door, ready to welcome her, but upon seeing the snoozing weedle, he couldn't help but laugh.

"I-I'm sorry, Elizabeth," He choked out; face a healthy red from laughing. He wiped a few stray tears from his eyes as he led her inside. "But it's not every day that you see a weedle like that."

"Tell me about it!" Effy sighed.

After realizing what it was doing, Effy had known there was no way she could get the weedle off without the professor's help. A string shot isn't clothing-friendly, Effy knew- it was a long story, but let's just say that Effy's father had tried rearing paras one spring. Her entire wardrobe had to be stripped bare. Needless to say, his new hobby didn't last long. The weedle was now disconnected from her shirt and sleeping in her arms with a snot bubble huffing from its nose.

"I'd like to know where it came from..." Professor Oak continued, leading her into his main office, which surprised Effy as she'd never been invited in before. "I've never seen such a sociable, little weedle before."

"You could watch it here, I guess," She shrugged, jostling the weedle who slept on, regardless, and taking in the Professor's office- it was dim, cluttered and dusty, making her sneeze, but it had a strange charm. "Like, get one of your assistants to watch it, or something."

The professor made a sound in his throat, tapping the pokedex in his hands as he pulled the curtains open, revealing the bright white light of the sun. He stood by the window that looked out onto the road below his lab.

"Actually, I think I'll let you take care of him," He smiled, turning back to face her.

She was silent a moment, before nodding.

"Okay, I'll look after the weedle and a charmander... it'll be a lot of work, though... I might have to send the weedle back sometimes... like when I get six pokemon..." Effy stopped, watching Oak shake his head slowly.

"No... You would only be taking care of the weedle."

"But-!"

"That weedle has really taken a shine to you, Elizabeth," Oak sounded reprimanding and Effy shriveled somewhat. "It would be unwise of me to give you another Pokemon to bond with, when that weedle has already made the decision. It wouldn't be fair on the poor, little creature."

Effy felt near tears. She'd been telling everyone that she was getting a charmander... her friends, her not-friends, her family... her brother! It wasn't fair on HER, either!

"But-! I didn't choose a bug!" She shouted, feeling very childish and stupid. "I finished First! I got to choose a Charmander!"

It was then that the weedle stirred and she felt his feet tighten, then loosen, on her shirt before he piped up.

"Weewee?"

"He's worried," Oak told her, watching her with a look in his eyes that Effy couldn't determine.

Disappointment? Elizabeth Brooke sighed, hanging her head for a moment. As a trainer, she would be dealt far worse cards than these, and she had to deal with them.

A weedle would be the least of her problems soon enough.

She lifted her pale, heart-shaped face and let her brown eyes fall onto the tiny, black orbs of the bug that rested so close to her.

"Want to come with me?" Effy said finally, resignedly, with a half-smile.

"Weeweedldldleeee! Weeeeeeeweeweweeweeeeeddleee!" The bug, beside himself with excitement, cried.

As Effy and her newly caught weedle left the lab, the professor's words echoed in her head.

_"Don't take it out on the weedle, Elizabeth," _His eyes were strangely dark, and Effy had felt ashamed, knowing he'd not wanted to give her a Pokemon at all at the end. He handed her the red pokedex, and a small pouch of pokeballs._ "And despite what you may think, I will be expecting a lot from you."_

Aside from that, he had also asked her to note down anything unusual in the weedle's behavior.

"Unusual?" Effy mused bitterly. "You mean like sticking itself to people's clothes?"

The weedle, whom she had called Arthur when Oak had mentioned his links with other arthropods, was happily squirming up and down her arms as she walked. Oak had asked her to keep the little, worm-like Pokemon out as much as possible for observation and Effy felt scolded enough to do exactly that.

With her iPod headphones in, Effy walked straight past the signpost that signified her leaving PalletTown, and missed the calling of her name.

So, when a hand grabbed her wrist, she jumped.

What happened next immediately raised Arthur in her good books. When she span, the first thing she recognized was a smirk and black hair, then Arthur reared up and sprayed the taller person.

All over their face, chest, and neck.

Immediately, Effy burst into laughter, as the boy fell back in shock. Arthur made an odd, squeak-hiss that Effy found decidedly freaky, and she jotted it down on the small flip-pad the professor had armed her with.

"What the hell-?" The familiar voice griped, and Effy looked up into the grey eyes of Ricky, her bully, scowling at her.

"Errr..." She faltered, ushering Arthur back up her arm and off of her forearm where Ricky might squash him. "Well, it was your fault for scaring us!"

Ricky growled, his cheeks briefly heating, before he recovered.

"'Us'? You mean that worm is yours?" He laughed venomously, wiping the gluey string shot from his neck. "And here I thought you might actually have been going to Professor Oak for a Pokemon today! What a joke!"

Effy looked away from him in embarrassment, having known she should have expected this sort of treatment from her classmates... not to mention trainers from other cities.

He looked down at her in surprise. She never normally let him get away with ragging on her. That's why it was so fun to bicker with Effy. He was taller than her by about a head, with messy, spiky black hair, and grey eyes. His eyebrows were striking and arched, and his face was handsome. His body, now that he was growing up, had started to mature. His torso was triangular, and he had narrow hips. He wore a black, long-sleeved polo shirt, and light blue, faded, jeans. A few paces behind him stood a curious squirtle holding toast… Effy thought then that Ricky must have gone home first to show his mum. Effy remembered when Ricky used to talk to her about things like that.

Finally, Effy just sighed and turned away from him, continuing out of Pallet.

Frowning, he quickly piped up.

"What? No comeback?" He jeered, not as harshly as he might have normally. "You know why? It's because you know I'm right! You know you'll never be as good as me or anyone else!"

As she got farther away, he saw her calmly put her headphones in once more.

* * *

Want me to continue?

Love~


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Only my characters.

Author's note: I began this story years ago, but I'm planning on carrying on 'til the end this time. I'd really appreciate reviews, and I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Chapter Two- _Tower Duke_

The late afternoon of her first official day as a trainer painted Effy Brooke as a tableau of fatigue on a dusty Kanto pathway. The sticky remnants of her father's checked shirt were cushioned beneath her blue backpack where she laid her head.

Arthur the six pound weedle stared up at his friend, exhausted. Route 1 had been a terrifying experience for the little bug; if it hadn't been for his speedy human saviour he might have been eaten ten times over by now. As it was, the girl had finally placed him on the ground and challenged him to a game… of chase. The Bug-Type had only ever had to squirm away from birds and the occasional strong wind, so at first he had thought his trainer was angry at him so his eyes had welled up…and he had stung her reaching hands.

Since then they had been laying down not far off of the path watching the sky.

"How ya doing, Arthur?" Effy grinned, coaxing him to crawl over, using her bandaged hand. He hung his little head and she frowned a little.

"Dooo," he lamented, wriggling forward to bump his cheek against her fingers in apology.

Effy laughed.

"Don't worry about that," she said, scooping him up with both hands and holding him above her face. She looked at his little pink feet and ridged underbelly. "You're bound to be scared. S'just another thing we need to tell Oak. Though, I guess all weedle hate being chased, huh?"

He bobbed his big bulb of a head in agreement and she sighed.

A charmander would want to run around… at least a little. Effy felt like dirt the moment she thought it and it was exactly then that the boy looked over and spotted her.

"Heh," he smirked, calling over to her, "Let's battle!"

Letting Arthur scamper onto her chest, Effy looked over. She kind of recognised him from graduation; he was a kid from a different class to hers at Pallet Preparatory- which was weird, since she figured she had been the last to leave… but that meant that the charmander stood at his side on the path was hers… _or would have been._.

Effy felt that guilty wanting feeling again- it was a female charmander, she could tell, which would have meant they'd have bonded faster- and sat up, holding Arthur close.

"Actually, my weedle is still a baby so I can't really battle right now," Effy smiled as pleasantly as she could, brushing her reddish-brown hair out of her eyes. The boy was ruddy, with narrowed grey eyes and blonde hair. He was dirty, as if he'd fallen on the way, and dressed in old jeans and a blue t-shirt with a hole at the shoulder.

"Well," he looked at her like an idiot. "You can't actually say 'no' because you have an able Pokemon… so, get up."

"Excuse me?" Effy did stand up, and she could feel Arthur's little feet bristling against her forearm as he lowered his stinger towards the boy, ready to launch at him. "Didn't you hear me? He's too young, so get lost!"

The boy glared at her, his dark brows furrowed, and Effy glared back. Finally, she stuffed her shirt in her backpack and shouldered it, moving towards the path.

"Where are you going?" He demanded, furiously. "Charmander, use Ember!"

"Char char," the young Pokemon hesitated, looking from her fierce trainer to the frozen, shocked face of the other trainer, halted ahead of them on the path.

"Do it, now! Scratch!"

The Fire-Type launched towards them and Effy screamed indignantly, dodging the baby Pokemon in the nick of time.

"Now, Ember!"

The flames caught Effy on her landing, and licked against Arthur's weak skin and her arm. He cried out in pain, and Effy gasped out.

"Now, Charmander, use Scratch again! Get that weedle!"

The charmander stared in dismay at Effy and Arthur, shocked into stillness.

"Charmander char," she said, her eyes watery as she took a step towards them.

Forcing herself to her feet, Effy bolted, her shoulder burning white, and Arthur held close to her chest. Behind her, Effy heard the boy screaming at her- _his_- poor charmander.

* * *

Viridian City was probably beautiful but Effy's first impressions of it were pure hatred.

"Where's the stupid Pokemon Centre?!" She was furiously spitting under her breath, dodging around shocked shoppers in the city centre. She had been lucky in that there was a road straight into the middle of the shopping district from where she had sprinted in from Route 1, but now she was seeing red as her shoulder started to go hot and cold, and her rage at Viridian City for making the Centre so hard to f-

"There it is!" Effy cried, changing course all of a sudden and running headlong for the tell-tale red roof in the distance. "Hang in there, Arthur!"

"Wee," his voice was barely there, and he was looking worse with every passing second, his little face scrunched up in pain.

Looking down at him as she was, Effy missed the moment a tall man with a fishing rod stepped into (what had been) her straight shot to the Centre.

"Oof!" He wheezed, winded, dropping his rod and stumbling back.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! Please, excuse me!" The auburn-haired fourteen-year-old with the red raw shoulder cradling a weedle exclaimed, dodging around him like a dancing bellsprout, and handing his rod back.

He watched in bemusement as she thundered toward the Pokemon Centre.

"That's an odd trainer if I ever saw one," he chuckled, the light glinting off of the gold hoop at his ear. Curious, he wandered towards the Centre, thoughts of fishing put away for the time being as he stroked a calloused finger over a scarred pokeball on his belt.

* * *

Effy was miserable.

Nurse Joy had been nothing but the best in taking Arthur for care as soon as she had put him on the counter- and she had even plied her with a salve that was good for burns- but Effy couldn't help but hate herself. Rubbing the gloopy medicine all over her sore arm, Effy silently thanked the gods that the charmander was still too young to really hurt her.

Poor Arthur. Poor Charmander.

But, really, poor Arthur. She was the worst for thinking about that charmander at all- she hated the idea of that awful boy mistreating her- Arthur was her starter and, for all she knew, he would have been regardless of when she left home, or when she went to get her starter. Her mum always used to say that fate worked in strange ways. Nevertheless, maybe if _she_ had gotten the charmander instead things might have gone differently…

"No," Effy muttered. "If I had had the charmander I would have been doing exactly the same thing- picking on every Pokemon in sight. I'm no better than that monster back there."

"I disagree."

Effy jumped, looking up at the man sat across from her on the sofa opposite, finally taking in her surroundings. When she had arrived, Effy had been in such a frenzy that she hadn't taken in the look of the Centre, or anyone around, just blubbered about Arthur and parked herself on what was one of two long, parallel fuchsia sofas in the corner of the wide Centre foyer. The walls were a clean cream, while the floor and furnishings were decorated in pastel. The large Centre desk was quite busy, and manned by several chansey and an assistant nurse. Effy hoped that meant Nurse Joy had gone to look after Arthur.

"Huh?" She said intelligently. He laughed.

"I take it you were talking about the goon that did that to you?" He asked, nodding at the angry-looking redness on her arm, like really bad sunburn. She nodded dumbly. "I can't believe a girl that would look so panicked for her barely hurt weedle could do that to someone. That takes a particular kind of person. Or Pokemon, for that matter. I'm Duke. Tower Duke."

He reached a hand forward to shake. She recognised him as the one she had nearly knocked over on her way to the Centre and, looking closer, Effy could tell he was not a man but a boy a few years older; he was broad, tanned and tall, with messy brown hair and a gold hoop in his left ear. He wore a white, v-neck t-shirt, dark green board shorts, and a pair of espadrilles- _probably from the coast_, she guessed. He looked like the kind of boy you wouldn't want walking behind you on the street late at night. Next to him on the sofa were the rod she had handed back, and a big, dusty brown backpack.

"Effy Brooke," she smiled a somewhat reassured smile, reaching forward to shake hands. He smiled back. "I really am sorry for knocking you outside, I was worried-"

"About your weedle, I know," he frowned. "That's why I came to check on you- it's not usual practice to attack a trainer and her Pokemon. What happened?"

Effy told him about the boy, and the charmander that should have been hers, and about Arthur, and everything that had happened since leaving Pallet. Tower leaned forward and listened, his elbows on his knees and hands clasped, making no comment until she had finished. She noticed his eyes were an intense blue that made them hard to look at.

"I thought it was strange to see someone so concerned for a weedle," he admitted. "Regardless, I think we should tell Nurse Joy to warn people about that kid. Not only is it against League etiquette, he seems like a dick."

Effy laughed in surprise, nodded, then sobered with a sigh.

"I'm so worried about Arthur," she muttered. "He's not been in any battles yet- that was us running away. I just hope he's okay."

Tower looked at her and she felt he might say something, but he seemed to think better of it and patted her hand reassuringly instead.

A while passed as she watched Tower rummage through his dirty backpack a bit. He seemed to have made himself comfortable sitting with her, and even had the impact of making other trainers walk in the other direction, which Effy found kind of funny. The only person she'd ever pointedly walked the other way from was Ricky, and that was because he was a jerk all of the time… Tower seemed odd- definitely different than anyone she'd ever met- but sweet. Who else did she know that would chase after someone to see if they were okay? People in Kanto seemed to err towards the sentiment of 'guilty until proven innocent', Effy knew, and Tower seemed to fit that description- he even had a bright, white scar against the tanned skin of his hard chin. She relaxed in his calm, uninterested company, watching as he began polishing a series of four different pokeballs that had hung on his pokeball belt. She wondered what kind of Pokemon he would have, and if the fishing rod was a giveaway. The tell-tale crackle of the intercom finally piqued Effy's interest after a half hour of fretting with the glue-like substance still on her dad's shirt.

"Elizabeth Brooke to the Main Desk. Elizabeth Brooke."

"Arthur!" Effy jumped up and over to the desk, where the smiling Nurse Joy stood with the small bug sleeping in her hands, curled around his pokeball. Effy grabbed her in a swift hug. "Oh thank you so much!"

"You're welcome!" She beamed, lifting Arthur and his ball into Effy's waiting arms. "You just come back if you need anything else!"

"Oh, before I go…" Effy told a shocked Joy about the boy on Route 1.

She was too shaken to speak at first, merely nodding with a face a few shades paler than usual.

"I'll make sure Officer Jenny is alerted right away!"

When Effy turned away from the counter, Tower had snuck over to listen.

"Oh!" She huffed, knocked back a little this time. He rolled his eyes.

"I was thinking," he said, twirling his collapsible fishing rod with easy precision in one hand, and holding her backpack/shirt combo with the other. "Seeing as your weedle is better now, wanna come fishing? It gets kind of boring alone, and maybe you can catch something."

"Well, I don't know… I've never fished before…"

At her doubtful look, he smirked.

"I can teach you how to catch a Pokemon, if you're scared-"

"I KNOW HOW TO CATCH POKEMON!"

Leaving the Pokemon Centre was much calmer than her entrance and, as they walked, Tower talked about how this was his sixth visit to Viridian and that he was originally from a place called Castelia City. He was holidaying now, apparently.

Effy listened with one ear, while most of her attention lay with Arthur; holding him up to inspect him. As she turned him from left to right he also checked himself, wriggling as if tickled. She had expected Arthur to have some small reminder of the horrible incident, but not the vast scarring of pale yellow that he now had; Nurse Joy had done the best she could, but Effy had read one of Oak's journals about young Pokemon at the Preparatory and how they were more sensitive- among other things- to scarring. She shifted a glance down at her own arm, where she was sure she would have a scar, too.

"You shouldn't doubt him so much, you know," Tower grimaced, having been watching them from over his shoulder.

"What are you talking about?" Effy blushed, glaring at him.

Tower sighed.

"I only met you a little while ago, but even I can tell you look at him like you pity him,"

Effy bristled, halting as Tower turned to her and continued. In her arms, Arthur hung his head and she felt a tiny little drip of liquid on her arm as the little Pokemon began to cry. "You should stop pining after a different Pokemon and focus on him-"

Effy straightened, took the three steps between them, and punched Tower square in the jaw.

"Ah!" She gasped, recoiling and clutching her hand in pain, still staring balefully at Tower. "You don't know anything! I don't pity him!"

Tower watched her, barely moved by the weak right hook of the scrawny little girl with the wide-eyed weedle. Arthur was looking at her with a strange mask of terror, admiration and…something the eighteen-year-old couldn't figure out.

"I'm ashamed!" Effy continued, looking down and away from them both. "I don't know how to help him! Or protect him! I never studied Bug-Types… I don't know how…"

"Wee-wee-doo!" Arthur squeaked, shaking away the tears in his eyes. Effy looked at him and was surprised by the raw defiance and determination.

"Arthur…"

Did that mean he knew? Did he know she was scared? For her- for both of them?

Tower smiled, grabbing a pokeball out of his pocket and tapping the release. The bright white light revealed a large, colourful, winged insect.

"Stoxxxx," It cried, flying circles through the early evening air.

"This is my dustox, Cerra," Tower smiled, watching Arthur and Effy follow her flight with their eyes. "She's a Bug/Poison-type, which is what Arthur will be when he grows up. She was my first Pokemon- I won her as a wurmple in a contest when I was seven."

"She's beautiful," Effy breathed, and Arthur nodded his horned head in agreement.

"What I'm saying is- things get better… Bug-Types are underrated. Did you know they can destroy Psychic-Types?" Cerra landed on Tower's outstretched arm, where he stroked the soft, velvety fur on her back. The older boy regarded the newbie with a heavy gaze. "How about we go hook you another Pokemon?"

Effy grinned.

"I'm sorry, buddy," she hugged Arthur close, looking down at him. "We'll get stronger, right?"

"Wee-dooo!" Arthur cried happily, and she felt the tip of his stinger graze her cheek gently.

* * *

The lake was a mirror of the now-starry sky; twinkling and rippling in the soft breeze over its waters.

As it turned out, Tower had several rods and set all of them up. Reclining back on the bank of the glossy water's edge, he watched Cerra dipping low above where Effy lay nearby. Her face was hung above the water as she watched a school of poliwag dart about beneath the surface. On her back, Arthur lay curled like an arthropodic cat.

Effy wasn't really paying attention- instead choosing to dwell on Tower's words.

_Maybe it wasn't his business, but he'd helped… he'd seen a newbie trainer with a weedle and he'd helped_, she thought. _I think there are worse people to meet… like that maniac earlier today._

One of Tower's rods twitched and, like a snake, he darted forward to reel it in.

"Damn," he sighed as the line went slack suddenly.

Effy had turned to watch his excitement with a grin, but suddenly squawked in terror, clutching the ear that had, milliseconds before, been subjected to a magikarp's wet-lipped affections.

"Karp-karpkarp-magikarp!" The gruff, wheezy voice of the fish cajoled, splashing about with its tiny fins. Arthur, having tumbled off of Effy's back, now scampered up to the water's edge to inspect the new creature.

"Wee-duuu!" Arthur beamed at the magikarp and, in turn, the magikarp cried, "Karpkarp!"

Together, Arthur and the magikarp turned to the stunned Effy with adoring looks in their eyes.

"Wha-?" She began, and then it hit her. She turned pleading eyes on Tower, who was doubled over laughing at her misfortune. "Don't tell me they want-?!"

"Looks like you're becoming a champion for misunderstood Pokemon, my newbie friend," the older boy grinned, making sure not to look too much like a taunting superior.

Aghast, Effy stared at the magikarp a moment longer before taking a deep breath, and chuckling despite herself.

"Well, if this is destiny, it's nice to meet you, Duke," Effy smiled. In the background, Tower looked indignant at the little carp being named after him but she ignored it, reaching into her backpack and tossing the pokeball at the cheerful magikarp. The red light engulfed the fish, pulling it into the pokeball, which landed with a _plop_ on the surface of the water. Picking it up, Effy watched it wriggle weakly before it made the tell-tale _ding_ sound she had read about in textbooks. After all, Professor Oak had been the one to put Arthur in a pokeball, not her.

Arthur, meanwhile, scampered up to nuzzle the shiny new pokeball fondly. Effy smiled softly.

From tending his fishing lines, Tower gave a thoughtful hum as he watched the girl.

_Maybe…_ he mused.

* * *

When they returned to the Pokemon Centre later, Nurse Joy offered them blankets and a spot on the cosy fuchsia sofa's to sleep. There were other trainers there as well, but none that Effy really knew- she recognised a couple from the yearbook, but nobody from her class. Tower politely declined and said he was staying with friends, so he said goodnight and that he might see her in the morning. Effy settled down with Arthur cuddled close to her neck, listening to the Centre doors open and close as he left. Exhausted after her first day out on the road, Effy let her mind wander and so her last thoughts before she fell asleep were of the boy from Route 1, and Ricky's face.

_You know you'll never be as good as me or anyone else!_

She'd show him.

She woke up aching, sick to her stomach, and triumphant.

"We did it, Arthur!" Effy fist-pumped the air, launching up from her makeshift bed. "We made it through our first day!"

The weedle gave an excited hop in joy, wriggling his body. At a sharp, 'Hush!' from the night porter, the two flinched, sneaking a glimpse out the nearby curtained window.

"Woah it's still dark," Effy whispered, pulling her toothbrush, flannel and toiletries out of her backpack. "We might as well make an early start… Right, Arthur?"

"Duu!" Arthur's voice was soft and she patted his soft cheek.

"Guard the stuff, soldier," Effy winked, her feet pattering quietly on the linoleum floor on her way to the bathroom.

Half hour later Effy and Arthur were outside the Centre stretching in the approaching dawn light.

"We're gonna do some serious training today, Arthur!" Effy bit her cheek to stop from smiling, spotting him trying to do lunges to copy her from atop the wooden bench in front of the Centre. "We've gotta show Tower, and Ricky, and everyone! You, me, and Duke, right!?"

"Duu-duu!"

They set off along the High Street, picking up a few potions and antidotes with Effy's small savings at an all-night store. In the far off distance was Viridian Forest and, while Arthur wasn't going to need to worry about poison as much, she and Duke would.

Soon they were on the road out of town, waving goodbye to some friendly early-risers.

"Oi!" A familiar voice called, disturbing a pidgey from its roost. Effy turned and Arthur gave a happy 'Weeduu!" in greeting. A ways behind them was Tower, and it seemed he had been running for a while. In his arms was a bundle swathed in heavy blankets, and on his brow was a bright sheen of morning sweat.

He reached them and collapsed onto his backside easily, panting laughter.

"You guys wake up early!" He grinned, eyes squinting against the bright sunlight behind them, and breathing heavy. "I'm impressed!"

Arthur puffed out his tiny chest and Effy giggled, offering a hand. He thanked her with a nod and let her help him up.

"I didn't know you wanted a goodbye," the girl laughed, caught up in his jovial morning attitude. She noticed he had changed his shirt into a black one, but otherwise was dressed pretty much the same, as she was; she still wore the same black shorts, but this morning she wore a floaty, white, buttoned down shirt her aunt had sent her for exactly this kind of hot, sticky day.

"If only it were that simple," he shot her a crooked grin, offering her the swaddled bundle. She took it, giving him a confused look. He motioned for her to unwrap it and, as she did, her breath caught in her throat.

"A Pokemon egg!" Effy stared at Tower like he was crazy. "Why are you handing me a Pokemon egg?"

He shrugged nonchalantly, grinning like a hero all the while.

"My friend's Pokemon were at the day care lately, so he gave me a few," Tower explained, rubbing the porous shell of the yellowish egg. "It's really close to hatching, so I figured it could help beef your team up while you raise Arthur and my namesake."

Effy did it without thinking, jumping up and hooking her arms around him for as much of a bear hug as she could manage with a delicate Pokemon egg and a baby Pokemon in her arms.

"I don't know how to repay you!" She cried, face a picture of excitement.

"Let's travel together," Tower shrugged at her look. "Never traveled with a newbie before- could be fun."

Effy punched his thick shoulder, but her heart wasn't in it.

"Weeduuwee!" Arthur nodded enthusiastically.

"That settles it!" Effy beamed and, together, they started out towards Viridian Forest; a boy, a girl, and a weedle.


End file.
